Vanta is very good at one path: SOC 2, ISO 27001, and the frameworks a SaaS company meets on the way to an enterprise deal. Inside that path it is strong. The trouble is that this buyer is on more than that one path.
A regulated investment broker in British Columbia
It runs client-facing technology and moves client money, so it is holding seven distinct requirements at once, and not one of them is on Vanta's framework list.
| Where it comes from | The instrument |
|---|---|
| Sector regulators | BCFSA, CIRO cyber expectations, and CSA Staff Notice 33-322 |
| Financial crime | FINTRAC for anti-money-laundering duties |
| Privacy | BC PIPA and PIPEDA |
| US counterparts | GLBA, the NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation, and the FTC Safeguards Rule for US-facing firms |
| Customer-driven | SOC 2, if it runs any client-facing technology |
Why Lavawall® fits here
It ships these frameworks pre-built. For financial services that means GLBA, NYDFS 500, FTC Safeguards, CIRO, CSA 33-322, BCFSA, and FINTRAC, plus PCI DSS and SOC 2. Vanta builds the unusual ones as custom frameworks; Lavawall carries them and includes every framework in its Complete tier rather than charging per framework.
It is the platform, not a connector to one. Lavawall runs its own agent on your endpoints and its own connectors into Microsoft 365, Entra, Intune, and Google Workspace, so the evidence comes from the same system that runs the control, with continuity as a working module in the same console.
Pricing, published
Almost nobody in this category publishes a number, and pricing opacity is the single most-cited complaint in Vanta’s aggregate reviews, ahead of missing features. So here is ours, beside theirs.
Lavawall® Complete
$89.50 /seat/year
Annual, two months free. A seat is the greater of your managed devices or your Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace licensed users, never both.
Starts at $2,240/year for the first 25 seats, and every compliance framework in the catalogue is included, along with the business-continuity module, your policies, and a Trust Centre.
No per-framework fee: the whole catalogue is in Complete. Volume discounts start at 51 seats.
Vanta
from US$14,000 /year
Essentials package, 1–20 employees, as published on Vanta’s own AWS Marketplace listing (accessed 28 August 2026). Marketplace and direct pricing can differ.
That floor covers one framework. The buyer this page is written for has four, five, or six.
Volume discount, by seat
| 1–50 seats | list price |
| 51–250 seats | 5% off |
| 251–1,000 seats | 10% off |
| 1,001–5,000 seats | 15% off |
| 5,001+ seats | 20% off |
A few scenarios
| Organization | Assumptions | Lavawall / year |
|---|---|---|
| 20-person BC health-tech | 25 seats (the minimum), every framework it needs included | $2,240 |
| 50-person services firm | 50 seats, every framework included | $4,475 |
| 250-seat organization | 250 seats at the 5% volume tier, every framework included | $21,256 |
For the 20-person band, Vanta’s published floor is US$14,000 for one framework. Lavawall®’s $2,240 covers every framework the buyer needs.
For most of these buyers, though, the real alternative to Lavawall is not another compliance platform at all. It is a consultant at $15,000 to $40,000 and a spreadsheet, repeated every year, with nothing left behind between engagements. See the full pricing page for the calculator.
When Vanta is the better choice
If you are a fintech whose only near-term requirement is SOC 2 for a customer, with no sector regulator yet in scope, Vanta will get that one done well.
Frequently asked
- Does Lavawall cover the Canadian securities-sector cyber rules?
- Yes, CIRO's cybersecurity program and incident-reporting rules and CSA Staff Notice 33-322 are pre-built, along with BCFSA guidance and FINTRAC's anti-money-laundering duties.
- What about US financial rules like GLBA and NYDFS?
- GLBA, the FTC Safeguards Rule, and the NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation are in the catalogue, so a firm operating on both sides of the border maps them alongside the Canadian rules.
- Is SOC 2 enough for a financial firm?
- Rarely. SOC 2 answers a customer's question, but the regulators' answer comes first, and they are the frameworks a single-framework tool does not carry.